Miscellaneous Topics

These sections cover topics which do not fit in neatly elsewhere.

Written by David Megginson

The Thesis Statement

A thesis statement is a short passage -- usually only a single sentence -- summarising the fundamental argument of an essay or report. Typically, the thesis statement will appear near the end of your introductory paragraph.

English itself does not use prefixes as heavily as it once did, but many English words come from Latin, which uses prefixes and suffixes (you can use the word affix to refer either to a prefix or a suffix) quite extensively. For example, the words "prefix," "suffix," and "affix" themselves are all formed from "fix" by the use of prefixes:

"ad" (to) + "fix" (attached) = "affix"

"pre" (before) + "fix" = "prefix"

"sub" (under) + "fix" = "suffix"

Note that both the "-d" of "ad" and the "-b" of "sub" change the last letter.

Here are some of the most common Latin prefixes (for the meanings of the Latin roots, look up the words in a good dictionary):

ab

(away) abrupt, absent, absolve

ad

(to) adverb, advertisment, afflict

in

(not) incapable, indecisive, intolerable

inter

(between, among) intercept, interdependent, interprovincial

intra

(within) intramural, intrapersonal, intraprovincial

pre

(before) prefabricate, preface prefer

post

(after) postpone, postscript, postwar

sub

(under) submarine, subscription, suspect

trans

(across) transfer, transit, translate

Written by David Megginson

Apposition

When two words, clauses, or phrases stand close together and share the same part of the sentence, they are in apposition and are called appositives.

In fact, an appositive is very much like a subject complement, only without the linking verb:

subject complement

My brother is a research associate.

appositive

My brother the research associate works at a large polling firm.

subject complement

Jean became a magistrate.

appositive

I have never met Jean the magistrate.

Written by David Megginson

Noun and Pronoun Characteristics

In addition to their various classifications, nouns pronouns have three major characteristics: case, number, and gender.

It is important to note that the pronoun "they" is in the processing of becoming singular as well as plural. For example, one might say

A person called and they did not leave their name.

This construction allows the speaker to avoid identifying the gender of a person, and it has been common in speech for decades, if not for centuries. Be aware, however, that some people still consider it unacceptable for formal writing.

There was a time when you could use the masculine gender by default when you did not know a person's natural gender, but very few people accept this usage any longer.

There are, moreover, a few tricky points. First, you may refer to all animals in the neuter gender, or you may refer to them by their natural gender:

Neuter

What a beautiful dog! Does it bite?

Natural Gender

What a beautiful dog! Does she bite?

Second, You usually assign mythical beings (such as gods) to a natural gender, even if you do not believe that the beings have actual sexual organs:

God is great. God is good. Let us thank her for our food.

Finally, people sometimes assign natural gender to inanimate objects, especially if they live or work closely with them. When engineers were mostly men, for example, they tended to refer to large machines in the feminine: